Pain. It was everywhere. I felt it in every limb in my body. Agony's sharp claws were tearing at my mind and body, I could feel it ripping away my sanity piece by piece. I couldn't scream, I couldn't make a sound. I was aware I was slowly losing my mind, it would only be a matter of time before I went mad.
Oh god please just make the pain stop, please just let me die.
Slowly the I felt the pain subside. I didn't know where I was, it felt like my body was floating. I tried opening my eyes, but there was a brilliant light. It was everywhere. Even with my eyes squeezed shut I couldn't escape it's blinding rays. It was almost worse that the pain itself.
I pulled my knees up to my chest. I remained like that for what seemed like hours, but it could have easily been seconds, time didn't seem to matter where I was. I found it hard to think, my thoughts were muddled and nothing seemed to make sense. It made me angry.
Eventually, I became aware of a noise. It was a series of high pitched sounds, no, I knew this noise. Chirping. I was hearing birds chirping.
I frowned, Why in the world would birds be in such a place?
I forced my eyes to open. The first thing I saw was green, green grass. Now I was confused, what happened to the bright light? And the pain? My eyes widened as a thought struck me. The pain, it felt like fire, did it leave scars? I held my breath as I extended my arm in front of me, what would I see? To my surprise my hand was unharmed, not a scratch or a bruise, it was as if I had imagined the pain. The very thought was crazy, you couldn't possibly imagine a pain so agonizing.
Well, it doesn't look like I'm hurt, and it doesn't seem like the pain will come back, but I still don't know where I am.
I sat up slowly, moving too fast me nauseous. I blinked and looked around at my surroundings. I was sitting at the edge of a forest bordering a fancy garden. I had a strange sense of deja vu, this place looked familiar.
I put a hand on a trunk of a tree and stood up shakily. I spotted a pathway through the gardens. Perhaps there was a manor, or a building where I could ask where I was.
Brushing off some dirt off my suit I realized I was wearing my fancy one. The one normally reserved for balls and special outings. Why would I be wearing this if I was sprawled face first in the grass?
I pushed that thought away, what I was wearing wasn't important. Right now I needed to find out where I was.
"Elliot!"
I turned around. A girl with short curly brown hair was running towards me.
"Vanessa?" I asked confused, what is she doing here?
"Elliot I have been looking all over for you!" She said hooking her arm through mine, I sensed a hint of annoyance in her voice. "Everybody is waiting for you."
"W-what do you mean everybody's waiting?" I cried as she dragged me through the gardens. My eyes widened as I realized something, these were the Nightray gardens, that's why they looked so familiar.
Vanessa stopped abruptly and whirled around to face me, fixing me with an intense stare.
"Geez you're really out of it today" she muttered, eyes narrowing "Everyone as in our family, mum, dad and our brothers. A party is set up on the main lawn, its going to be great fun but we can't start without you."
"Oh.." I said trying to hide the confusion in my voice, "I see..."
"Now come on" she said taking hold of my arm, and resuming a quick pace through the garden once more "It's rude to keep people waiting."
I almost had to jog to keep up with Vanessa's long strides. It was a short walk through the gardens before we reached the main lawn. Tables with crisp white tablecloths were set up and piled high with delicate pastries on silver dishes. Tea was being served in fragile china cups painted with detailed rosebuds.
And in the middle of the lawn stood my family. Mum, dad, Claude, Ernest and Fred were all there.
"I found him wandering in the gardens" Vanessa announced smiling, "But we're all here now, so everything is fine."
Mum stepped forwards and embraced me.
"Oh Elliot, your mother missed you so much" she said softly hugging me tightly.
I felt a wet sensation on my shoulder and realized she was crying. I blinked back tears of my own as I reached up with a hand to stoke her hair comfortingly.
After a few long moments she pulled back and wiped her tears away.
"Dear me" she said with a quiet laugh "Today is supposed to be a happy day, and yet here I am crying." She looked at me apologetically.
I opened my mouth to say it was alright, when I felt a hand on my back. I turned around and saw Claude standing behind me.
"It's been a while little brother" He said with a grin.
"Yeah" I said smiling.
Hugs, kisses on the cheek and pats on the back were given as we were finally reunited. We were all one big happy family again, I felt so warm and content. But I still felt like there was something missing. I couldn't remember what I was doing before feeling the agonizing pain and waking up in the garden. Frustrated I sighed, and let my eyes wander. In front of me everybody was smiling and talking together, they looked so happy. I looked over at the flower filled garden bed beside me, statices and roses were in full bloom all around me.
There is something missing, something important but I can't remember what...
I shifted my gaze to the edge of the lawn, bordering it was a short brick wall. When Vanessa and I were younger we used to play on the wall, there was a children's nursery rhyme we used to sing.
"Hey Vanessa" I called.
She turned, "What is it Elliot?"
I motioned to the wall with my tea cup.
"Do you remember playing on the wall when we were younger?" I asked.
Her eyes softened, "How could I forget? I even remember the nursery rhyme"
"What was it again?"
"'Humpty Dumpty sat on a Wall'"
Humpty Dumpty? For some reason that sounds familiar... Argh! Think Elliot! This is important! You have to remember!
I let out a frustrated sigh.
"Elly are you alright?" Vanessa asked, her voice full of concern.
"I'm fine, I'm just trying to remember something" I muttered.
"Ah" Her gaze flickered over to one of the tables "Ohh those pastries are my favorite, I'm going to get some, would you like any Elliot?"
I shook my head "No it's okay"
She nodded and walked away.
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall... Humpty Dumpty had a great fall... All the kings horses, and all the kings men...Couldn't put Humpty together again.
The tea cup fell from my hand and shattered on the ground. My eyes widened as memories came flooding back. Scenes from Yura's mansion, flashes of red cloaks, the sealing stone, Humpty Dumpty and, oh how did I ever forget Leo?
"Leo! Where is he?" I cried "Is he alright? Is he safe!?"
Claude and Ernest frowned, their eyes met and they shared an uneasy glance.
I froze when I realized the cold truth. "I rejected... My chain" I said, my throat feeling dry, "It's impossible to live through that..."
Everybody was now staring at me.
"I killed you.." I said, my voice sounding hoarse "I killed...all of you..."
Mum laughed, "We're all together now, everything is okay Elliot."
"No!" I cried, my voice steadily rising "It's not okay! I killed my whole family! And now I'm dead too! Leo is all alone now! He doesn't have anybody but me!" Tears were falling from my eyes now. "Leo needs somebody! He can't be left alone ...again."
I collapsed to my knees sobbing. My family surrounded me, trying to comfort me, but they kept saying the same thing over and over.
"We're together now...Every is okay now..."
But it wasn't okay, because I left my best friend all alone, it was betrayal. But it wasn't just that, I needed Leo too, perhaps even more than he needed me.